A Lending Hand

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College students are finding themselves in need of financial aid more than ever as the cost of tuition continues to rise. As millions of students nationwide apply for financial aid, an innovative scholarship program poses the question: ‘What if those millions of students each donated $1 to create $500 scholarships for themselves and others? Would you be willing to give up four quarters for the chance to win one of 10, 100 or 1,000 different scholarships?’
This speculation is the founding basis of the peer-to-peer scholarship network called Dollarship.com. Josh Barsch, co-owner of StraightForward Media, was inspired to develop the concept of students generating scholarships for other students through his experience of establishing the Dale E. Fridell Memorial Scholarship.
According to Dollarship, the Dale E. Fridell Memorial Scholarship generated more than 20,000 scholarship essays from over 100 nations. Students put amazing effort into their applications, despite the fact that only one person was to be chosen.
The principle of Dollarship is that students contribute a $1 network donation to generate $500 scholarships. Contrary to typical scholarship programs where competition decreases chances of winning, Dollarship awards more scholarships as the number of students applying increases.
‘One of the great things about Dollarship is that when a student applies, [they're] helping to create more $500 scholarships for students around the world,’ Barsch said. ‘Of course, there’s the chance that they’ll win the $500 award, but even if they don’t win, they’ve helped send someone else to school

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